‘Hero’ is a Hard Word

Recently, I debated the word hero and mulled over the significance with many questions. Heroes lift burning vehicles from atop mere mortals trapped beneath. Heroes leap down onto the sunken tracks of a subway train to yank a fallen child from an instant demise. Heroes stand on the line and take fire so that others may live their given story.

I was called a hero today. I don’t believe it. I barely recognized the word as it hurled by me. Although, I’m sure the caller meant it to stick.

But the more I move, the more it might:

I’m a hero if I remove a stronghold from one who is smothering. I’m a hero if I can guide a youth toward sustainability, I’m a hero if I can tell the story of those who routinely, relentlessly, rigidly stand on the front line.

Yet still, I am not the hero. Those who teach me are certainly the heroes.